1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fastener for retaining a cord threaded in the peripheral edge of a sleeve, a waist, a collar or a hood such as of a down jacket, a half coat or a ski wear, and more particularly to a cord retainer which is generally called "a cord stopper" and is mounted on a cord at a position near its ends.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. HEI 1-39449 discloses a cord stopper for retaining a cord, which is attached to a helmet, a hat, a sack, a garment, etc., at an arbitrary position.
In the cord stopper, as shown in FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings, a cylindrical socket has a blind hole, which has at a position toward the closed end an inclined inside wall surface, a first cord-threading hole at a position remote from the closed end, and a locking hole at a position contiguous to the inclined inside wall surface. Between the first cord-threading hole and the locking hole, there are diametrically opposite catch projections. A plug is slidably received in the blind hole, and has in its head a second cord-threading hole, which is adapted to be axially aligned with the first cord-threading hole of the socket, and a pair of resilient legs each terminating in a locking projection are disposed under the head. The plug is inserted into the socket and is pushed against the inclined surface of the socket and the bias of the resilient legs of the plug until the second cord-insertion hole comes into alignment with the first cord-insertion hole so that the cord can be threaded through the first cord-threading hole of the socket and the second cord-threading hole of the plug. When the pressure is released from the plug after threading of the cord, the plug is urged outwardly of the socket by the action of the inclined inside wall surface and under the bias of the resilient legs. As a result, the cord is retained by the friction of the corners of the first and second cord-threading holes.
The known cord stopper mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs has the following problems. Because the locking projections extend from the ends of the resilient legs of the plug, the cord stopper is necessarily long and large in size, which is expensive. Regarding the locking mechanism between the socket and the plug, since the locking projections of the plug to be engaged with the catch projections extend from the ends of the respective resilient legs, the plug tends to be removed from the socket when the locking legs deform resiliently. Further, since a gap exists between the plug and the open end portion of the socket, the plug tends to be inclined with respect to the socket so that a shaking phenomenon would occur to make the retaining of the cord nonstable.